A renowned economist, Kwame Pianim, has challenged Ghanaians to be bold and question some of the appointments by the government to avoid being spectators but citizens.
He explained that the 1992 Constitution had given that authority to the citizenry to seek answers from the Executive arm of the government whenever they found his decisions to be problematic.
“There are 275 Members of Parliament (MPs) who are supposed to approve the ministers, not the president, we have the Council of State who are supposed to make certain appointments in consultation with or on their advice of the president and I do not know what documents they say the president should bring when it is in consultation with them or on the advice of,” Mr Pianimobserved.
He threw the challenge when he delivered a speech at the launch of the John Evans Atta Mills (JEAM) Memorial Heritage under the theme: ‘The man John Evans Atta Mills – 10 years on’.
Mr Pianim disagreed with a section of citizens calling for a new Constitution because the current one, with a few judicial adjudications could be brought to light with just a few amendments and insisted that there was noneed to overhaul or a new constitution.
According to him, there was nothing wrong with the current Constitution and what was wrong with it was Ghanaians themselves and even though the president had too many powers, but he does not pass laws and was not responsible for the too many powers but the Constitution compels him.
“It is not the president who has too many powers, it is us to stand up and be courageous to say, Mr President, these persons you want to occupy these position are not good enough and not experienced enough and there is the need to change some of them and that makes the government a listening one so that the citizens are not spectators,” Mr Pianim advised.
Former President John Mahama urged all Ghanaians to emulate the peaceful, humble,and truthful nature of the late President Professor Atta Mills – hisintegrity, moral political colossus and the attributes are worth emulating.
“I call on each one of us Ghanaians to uphold truth, humility, integrity, moral political colossus and the peaceful nature of Prof. Mills, let us stay united even in the face of adversity, let us uphold tolerance yet we must endeavour to proceed in unity and in truth, we must also strive to defend the cause of freedom and we must fervently protect our democratic dispensation.
“Prof. Mills was such a moral political colossus and there can be no limit on the vehicles and instruments that eulogises his memory and history in the hearts and minds of Ghanaians,” former President Mahama postulated. –ghanaweb.com
